I have seen this movie many times and think it is one of the most underated films of all time. It is a work of extraordinary genius.

Recently I obtained the DVD version which has commentary by Richard Shickel(hope I spelled it right) the former movie critic from the New York Times.

He advanced the theory that everything that took place in the movie was a dream by Noodles. I'm embarrassed to say that this possibility never occurred to me. After all, the movie does open up and close with Noodles getting high in the opium den and there is a certain haze to much of the movie. The movie did show a certain aspect of American life and showed it brilliantly, but could it all be shown through Noodle's dream?

In fact Noodles remembers his life in the opium den, this is not really a "dream" but memories, maybe he idealized his past a litlle, but everybody has the tendancy to do that about his past. But for the events wich took place after (I mean after the gang being killed), Noodle imagines all that, extrapolates all that because he doesn't accepts the death of the members of the gang and his split up with Deborah. The elements wich tends to prooves that this a dream are the following:

-The death of Max is the more obvious solution, this unlike faking of events by Max hiding his own identity, and becoming a senator is really unlikely.

-The fact that the old Deborah is identical to the young one (lol). It proves that Noodles sees what he wants to see. He wants to see Deborah as he loves her and he prefers to imagine all this story about Max because he doesn't accept his death.

-Plus in the movie the characters seem to be separated and don't really listen to and understand each other, especially for Max and Noodles. Noodles progressively disconnects from the world of the gang. Max and Noodles are never on the same weath length, at the end they are near to the point to be stranger to each other. We do have the feeling that Noodles belongs to another movie.

In fact Noodles remembers his life in the opium den, this is not really a "dream" but memories, maybe he idealized his past a litlle, but everybody has the tendancy to do that about his past. But for the events wich took place after (I mean after the gang being killed), Noodle imagines all that, extrapolates all that because he doesn't accepts the death of the members of the gang and his split up with Deborah.

You think a gangster in the 1920s took a snooze in an opium den and idly composed "Yesterday," the most successful pop song of all time, and even reworked it in a Muzak arrangement? And that he then invented what '60s Buicks look like? And dreamed up television broadcasting as an added extra?

You think a gangster in the 1920s took a snooze in an opium den and idly composed "Yesterday," the most successful pop song of all time, and even reworked it in a Muzak arrangement? And that he then invented what '60s Buicks look like? And dreamed up television broadcasting as an added extra?

Sounds like Noodles isn't the only heavy drug user around here....

Good point, definitely good point. We could say that he doesn't hear the music (the music is for the audience). But concerning the TV... You may be right, around 1930 (not 1920), there wasn't many guys who have anticpated TV, in a such a way anyway, if it was, it wasn't the guy of the street...

You think a gangster in the 1920s took a snooze in an opium den and idly composed "Yesterday," the most successful pop song of all time, and even reworked it in a Muzak arrangement? And that he then invented what '60s Buicks look like? And dreamed up television broadcasting as an added extra?

True, you do have to stretch your imagination a little to see it as a dream. Of course Noodles couldn't know about The Beatles or Buicks. But I think SL was trying to show how part of American society developed and did it through this dream.

Can anyone answer me this. If Max becomes the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, how reasonable is it that neither Noodles nor Moe have any idea what the U.S. Secretary of Commerce looks like. I'm sure there are newspapers in Buffalo and in New York where Moe lives. There is no cable T.V., but there is network T.V. and nobody knows who Commissioner Bailey is.